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Tuesday, April 16, 2013

I love the idea that Shakespeare's works can influence even the most unlikely of works.
I listened to a podcast featuring Stan Lee recently, where he espoused his love for Shakespeare and expressed how the bard's language inspired him. (It's a long podcast covering all kinds of things, but if you would like to listen to it, here's a link.)
The big fact this is leading to is that action movie fans might be surprised to learn that Die Hard was influence by AMND.
Director John McTiernan supposedly asked his screenwriters to read the play and try and incorporate elements into the film.
Might that explain the trickster nature of John McClane?
The "play of masks" between McClane and Hans Gruber?
The separation of various groups and then them coming together during this party?
And would later Die Hard movies have benefitted from the Bard's magic touch?

Monday, April 15, 2013

Please come prepared with a section of the play to read out (read, although if you want to memorize it, knock yourself out. *eyes Jan*). Section may be a speech, a piece of dialogue, or even an entire scene. Thus, you may do this individually, partner with someone, or form a group and assign roles.

I don't want to sweat it out in a garden setting in the middle of a summer afternoon.

Also, though I'm no connoisseur, the coffee boys I know swear by their coffee. And the baristas are real baristas, I'm told, which means that they will tell you about the flavors and notes in your coffee. Very hipster. We can even watch them roast the beans.

Meet Elizabeth, the coffee roaster.

A few details:

We have the room from 3 to 6 PM. (Moved it an hour back bec. I have a talk that'll finish at 1PM.) If you arrive early, you can stay at the first floor.

Coffees range from P120-P160.

There isn't much food, except for a few pastries. People seem to like the waffle and the banana bread best.

The venue costs P6000, consumable. So order lots of coffee and a pastry or vice versa.

Obviously we can't have dinner there, unless coffee is one of your basic food groups. For nearby dinner or lunch alternatives (if some of you are meeting early), there's Tomas Morato or Robinson's Magnolia. Or there's a McDonald's and KFC right across.:)

There's No Fear, Shakespeare, but we're going to come up with our own versions, because Flippers Don't Fear Shakespeare!

Shakespeare's plots and themes are timeless, his characters compelling, and his conflicts gripping. Yet many people struggle with the language of the original, thus missing out on the tales. Here is your opportunity, then, to retell a piece of Shakespeare's AMND in your own language. We use a very loose definition of "language" here, by which we mean in any language, dialect, register, diction, bastardization you prefer.

The Task:

choose a section of AMND (may be a short dialogue between or among characters or a speech/soliloquy)

General length: half a page of the mass market paperback to as long as you like (can be the entire play, if you're inclined)

Other Guidelines:

Where to post it: On your blog, a Facebook note, as an image and posted on the FFP FB group, on Shelfari, or it may just be submitted to the moderators via email (fantaghiro23 <at> gmail <dot> com) or PM on Facebook. All submissions will be posted on the FFP-AMND blog. Should you wish to remain anonymous, please indicate this in your email, and we'll not include your name in the blog post.

However, all shall be revealed in the end, at least in the F2F discussion. AMND moderators will choose the best "translation" during the F2F discussion. A prize will be awarded.

Moderators also reserve the right to ask participants to read their own submissions during the F2F discussion.

Submission period: April 11 - 18

Think of this as practice for our FFP book project, since you'll be writing creatively.:) We're looking forward to reading your entries!

Thanks to everyone who submitted and everyone who still plans to contribute! However, only one of these entries was actually submitted within the entry period, thus making him/her the winner! Confirmation of the winning Shakespearean insult will be during the face-to-face discussion on April 20!

To make it more interesting, we'll be giving a consolation prize to the most popular entry here! Vote for your favorite by leaving a comment below.:)

By the way, you can keep the insults coming, and we'll still post them. This time, not for prizes; just for fun!

Monday, April 1, 2013

We hope so. After all, it's only 18 more days until the discussion. Also, we hope you've been reading on account of a couple of activities we have lined up, the first of which is the creative Shakespearean insult that started yesterday and will run until Sunday. (Thanks to Shani, Joko, and G Higuain of Shelfari who've shared their Shakespearean insults so far.)

If you haven't started reading yet, here are a couple of things that might help get you started:

No Fear Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream - has the original text AND a modern "translation" side by side, brought to us by the wonderful folk at SparkNotes. No Fear Shakespeare is a good friend to many a high school student required to take up Shakespeare.:)